“I think [debt prioritization] is not a serious effort and I think the Democrats are going to be overwhelmingly, if not unanimously opposed to it. The Senate is not going to take it up. And Tony Fratto who was with the [President George W.] Bush economic team, says it is essentially a joke, it won’t work, it’s impossible. Others have said it will be a political catastrophe if they try to do that. Effectively we call it ‘Pay China First’ bill. … I think this prioritization bill is simply a fig leaf for Republicans that are deeply divided on how they want to go forward, as you have seen. And I think that this bill is not a serious effort, and that's unfortuante.”

“I think the continuing disagreement and failure to reach agreement and to give confidence to the economy - to give confidence to businesses - that is evident in Washington, I frankly think that is having a dampening effect on the economy's growth. I think it's unfortunate. As you well know, I'm a big proponent of getting to a big deal over time. That does not mean, and I want to emphasize, that does not mean substantial cuts or increases immediately. The economy is still struggling. We're still over 7 percent unemployment. We still need to get the economy moving more robustly than that. But I think if we got an agreement between Republicans and Democrats, passed it, and had the President sign it, which got us to a credible path to fiscal sustainability over the next 15 years, I think that would have a tremendously positive effect on the economy. I think that's what we ought to do.”